Day 8 – Lugano and Lucerne

9/18/2006 – Day 8 – Lugano and Lucerne

We leave Venice this morning and guess what, the sun is shining and the looks like it will be nice.  Oh well, that' s the weather for you!  As we travel through Northern Italy on our way to Switzerland, we drive near this town.  Not sure what the name of the town is, but it sure looks nice.

Driving through the countryside, we keep passing pass vineyards.  This one looks to have an abandoned house in the middle of the vines. 

We pass by Como, Italy and cross into Switzerland then stop in Lugano along lake Lugano for lunch and a pit stop.  As we make our way into town, we pass one of the hotels. 

Walking around town, we come by this fountain in a park just off of Riva Vincenzo Vela, the street that runs next to the lake and I get a picture of it and Carmen.  

From lakeside we can see along the cost looking north.  Hotels and boats before we go up into the Swiss Alps.  It is easy to see why people would come here for a vacation or even a summer "cottage".

The church of San Rocco is a religious building located in the district of Lugano.   In 1349 a church dedicated to San Biagio was erected in this place, which was subsequently destroyed.  The reconstruction began in 1528 and, after an interruption, resumed in 1580 with the consecration in 1602.  

Inside we can see another beautiful church with amazing artistic and architectural details!  The statue of Mary and baby Jesus surrounded by cherub.

There is another alcove with a secondary alter. 

Back on the bus, we are on our way to Lucerne.  Not too long after leaving Lugano I see this church in the distance. 

We are traveling through the pass across the beautiful Swiss Alps.  At Airolo we begin climbing switchbacks to get to the top and over to the other side of the mountains.  Check out the roof cover over the road we passed through that protects the road from snow avalanches. 

How about this for the road we just came up.  It is dizzying thinking about having to drive all the way up.  If we were driving in a car, Carmen would be driving or making sure I was always watching the road and neither of us would have enjoyed the sights.

We stop at an overlook near the top of the pass and have a great view of the valley below.  Look at how far up we are.  We both went to the bathroom and you had to use a foot pump to fill the water closet in order to flush the toilet.

Once we are over the pass we begin to see more houses and grass, like these.  Now this is Heidi country.  We finish our day at the hotel in Lucerne. 

Tomorrow the plan is to see the Lucerne Lion Monument, take a gondola to the top of Mt. Pilatus, then return by train.